Nothing says fall like making homemade concord grape jelly. Intoxicating aroma, jewel-like color and sweet-tart taste appeal to all your senses.
Mother Nature dictated my priorities this past week-end.
I willingly obliged.
Now I have about twenty jars of Homemade Concord Grape Jelly.
It snowed hailed in Montreal this week-end, and we also got our first frost warning of the year. Since I had no intention of making ice wine, I psyched myself up to harvest the remainder of the grapes in my backyard while I still could… and I used those grapes to make this wonderful jelly.
A couple of years ago, my husband built a pergola for the three different varieties of grapes he planted. Needless to say, we had a lot of grapes this year. I’ve been sharing with friends, family and neighbors over the past couple of months, and I still had so many leftovers.
As the warmer weather continued well into October, the grapes on the vine just became sweeter and sweeter. But alas, the inevitable is well on its way and so I picked those leftover grapes at last and made my favorite jelly this weekend!
This grape jelly recipe with pectin is really not a difficult process -you’ll just need to set aside a couple of hours, especially if you are lucky enough to be harvesting your own concord grapes.
As a side note, you might be wondering what I’m going to do with these twenty jars of concord grape jelly I made!
Well, I find that they are appreciated as hostess and holiday gifts. Autumn is the best time to prepare these food gifts… homemade strawberry jam, apple butter, vanilla pear butter, applesauce, sun-dried tomatoes, traditional basil pesto …the list just continues to grow.
Nutrition Tip: This Homemade Concord Grape Jelly is made with the extracted grape juice of Concord grapes, sugar and pectin. It provides you with an excellent alternative to a fat-free spread. Studies have shown that Concord grapes when eaten in their fruit form, provide us with powerful antioxidants called polyphenols.
How to make grape jelly
You won’t believe how easy this is!
Step 1: The preparation
Making your own Homemade Concord Grape Jelly requires a few preparatory steps:
- Canning jars need to be washed and sterilized (place in 225 ° F oven for at least 10 minutes). I leave them in the oven until I am ready to fill them up.
- Lids also need to be sterilized; just 10 minutes in simmering water is all it takes. Leave them in the water until you need them.
- Grapes need to be properly rinsed, stemmed and crushed. I have often found spiders, spider webs and all sorts of creepy crawlers in the middle of mine… that’s what happens when no pesticides are used! I think it’s a fair trade-off. As I stem each grape, I also give it a gentle squeeze in order to separate the “meat” from the skin. I do this over the bowl in order to collect any juices that may be given off. Then, with the help of a potato masher, I crush the grapes. In total, we need about 3 pounds of grapes that have been removed from their stems.
Step 2: Extracting the grape juice
Once your grapes have been crushed, place them in a large saucepan along with ½ cup of water. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to allow the grapes to simmer for approximately 10 minutes, covered. Stir occasionally.
In the meanwhile, set your cheesecloth in a strainer (or use your jelly cloth if you have one) over a heatproof bowl. Pour prepared fruit and liquid in the strainer and allow to drip for a couple of hours. You need four cups of this strained liquid. The aroma of this concentrate is absolutely intoxicating!
Step 3: Combining the ingredients
It's extremely important to measure the right amounts of grape juice and sugar- otherwise, your jelly may turn out too thick or too thin.
That being said, combine 4 cups of extracted grape juice with 7 cups of granulated sugar in a large heavy-bottomed pot.
Bring your mixture to a boil, add in the CERTO pectin (liquid) and stir for exactly one minute. Do not get burned here!
Once that is done, remove the pot from the heat and skim the foam for approximately 5 minutes. I find this to be a two-person job, though it can be done alone. I usually enlist the help of my daughter… she stirs while I skim.
Step 4: Canning
Ladle the jelly immediately into your sterilized hot jars. Remember to leave about ¼ inch of headspace. Place a sterilized lid and screw on the top.
The final part is processing the jars in a boiling water bath for 5 minutes.
When you hear the seals of the jar lids popping, you’ll know you’ve done a good job!
How to use it
This Homemade Concord Grape Jelly is great on toasted bread, bagels, homemade scones, buttermilk biscuits, rolls or pancakes. Not to mention savory-sweet dishes like this recipe for these Baked Chicken Thighs.
Recipe inspiration
This summary is based on the recipe that I found years ago on the CERTO website. The original recipe did not require any butter, and so I do not use any (interesting enough, Martha Stewart also uses Certo to make her grape jelly… I guess that means I’m doing it right!)
Have fun making your grape jelly.
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Ciao for now,
Maria
★★★★★ If you have made this Grape Jelly recipe, I would love to hear about it in the comments below and be sure to rate the recipe!
Recipe
Homemade Concord Grape Jelly
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Ingredients
Extracting the juice:
- 3 pounds grapes removed from their stems and washed
- ½ cup water
Making the jelly:
- 4 cups extracted grape juice
- 7 cups sugar granulated
- 1 pouch Certo fruit pectin liquid
Instructions
Extracting the juice:
- Place grapes in a heavy-bottomed pot.
- Add water.
- Crush the grapes with a potato masher. This will help speed up the extraction process.
- Bring the grapes to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer.
- Cover the pot and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Stir occasionally.
- In the meanwhile, sterilize jars and caps (for details refer to post section on THE PREPARATION).
- Pour the cooked grapes, in a jelly bag or cheesecloth-lined strainer. Allow to drip for a couple of hours.
Making the jelly:
- Combine the extracted grape juice and sugar in a large heavy-bottomed pot.
- Over high heat, stir together until the mixture comes to a boil.
- Add the pouch of Certo and continue to stir the boiling mixture for 1 minute.
- Remove the pot from the heat.
- Stir and skim the foam for approximately 5 minutes.
- Ladle the jelly immediately into the hot sterilized jars. Leave ¼ inch of headspace. Place a sterilized lid and screw on the top.
- The final part is processing the jars in a boiling water bath for 5 minutes.
- When you hear the seals of the jar lids popping, you'll know you've done a good job!
Notes
Nutrition
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kelsey
Will the the jelly still set if you water bath it? I went ahead and processed the product in a 15 min water bath. They are not cool yet, but it is completely liquid.
Maria
Hi Kelsey, although there is no need for a water bath with this recipe, there should be no difference in the final product. They should firm up… might take a little longer. Would love to hear about your final results. Appreciate your comment.
Rebecca Hansen
I was wondering just made grape jelly last night for the first time. How long is it good for and do you store it in the refridgerater.
Maria
How wonderful Rebecca. I still have some grape jelly from last year and it is still good. I keep it in my cold room (cool and dark but not refrigerated). No need to refrigerate if you heated/sterilized your jars/lids. Also, if you heard that popping sound and it’s a good seal,no refrigeration required. Great question, thanks for stopping by 🙂
Lizzy Quinn
Hi there! I’m so excited to make some grape jelly for my family this year!, but have to ask. What’s the LEAST amount of sugar you would suggest to add? I’m not a huge sugar person and know grapes can be naturally sweet!
Thanks for any response!
Lizzy Quinn.
Living and loving life in Maine.
Maria
Great question Lizzy. I absolutely agree with you. Unfortunately, for this recipe, any deviation from the proportions of fruit, sugar and pectin may result in a different texture and sometimes, the jelly remains a liquid. I tried to cut the sugar the first time I made this grape jelly recipe and unfortunately learned the hard way. I am planning to make an attempt to create a grape jelly with reduced sugar… if the results are good, I will post the recipe. I still have to wait a couple of more weeks as my grapes are not yet ready to be harvested. Thanks for stopping by 🙂
Jennifer
Got lots of grapes gonna give this a try shortly,,, as this is my first time making jelly, I was wondering after you pour the grape juice mixture in the jars and put the lids on tight do you flip them over for 5 mins then turn them back up to get it to seal and ping or do you just put lid and rings on and tighten and let it set to seal?
Maria
Lucky you! I do not turn them over. I just tighten the ring, allow to seal and wait for that popping sound! Have fun 🙂 Great comment, thanks for stopping by 🙂
catherine byrne
I just made some of this jelly about an hour ago. It still looks like grape juice, and is runny. Will it set as it cools? Or should it be thick already?
Maria
Hi Catherine, it should set as it cools. Thanks so much for dropping by 🙂
Mandy
Pardon my ignorance, I am new to jelly making. These do not have to be placed in a canner? Just put the lids and rings on and see if it seals?
Maria
Hi Mandy, Interestingly enough, I had the same question when I started making this particular jelly recipe. It is important and so crucial that the jars and sealer are properly sterilized before filling them up with the jelly. I have been making grape jelly with this particular brand of pectin for over 10 years and I have never had any issues. In fact, I had a bumper crop of concord grapes two years ago and made sooo much jelly! I still have a few left and they are perfect. Great comment. Thanks for stopping by.
Andrea
Wow, a fellow Montrealer (South Shore myself). So nice to see that the recipe that suits me most is yours, it is October 29th and I picked my 12 cups of grapes yesterday before the rain today, and I made my juice. I still have another 12 or more cups to pick but I think I’ll wait till next weekend , this is quite enough for one weekend’s work 🙂
Maria
Hello fellow Montrealer 🙂 Isn’t it a great feeling… I just finished mine… we were lucky this year, we had great fall weather. Hope you like the grape jelly! Thanks for taking the time to comment 🙂
Celesta Hiner
I sure am going to try this as I have some extracted grape juice .can’t wait to try it
Maria
It’s definitively the perfect time for it…enjoy! Thanks for dropping by:)
Mary
Can this be stored at room temperature or does it need to be refirgerated…and what is the shelf life? I am making it a we speak. The juice is still dripping. Cannot wait to taste it. It smells awesome
Maria
I agree, the smell is intoxicating! By sterilizing your jars and lids, they can be kept at room temperature. Just make sure the seal pops. The jelly can easily be kept for up to 9 months. If you do not get the seals to pop, it can be kept in the fridge for a couple of weeks. Enjoy! Thanks for dropping by 🙂
Sonia and mom
Oh Mary this is so delicious baked a cake and spread it on the cake we love it xxx thank you
Maria
Hi Sonia and Mom, I’m really glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for taking the time to comment 🙂